Britons have a curious attitude towards foreign participation in their home-grown sports. South African-born Kevin Pietersen was hailed as an English cricketing hero during the summer. Canadian-born tennis player Greg Rusedski is a firm favourite at the All England club. Sven-Goran Eriksson, on the other hand, has recently been lambasted for his lack of passion at the helm of English football.

But for many devotees of the beautiful game, the purchase of Manchester United by the American serial entrepreneur Malcolm Glazer in May was the final straw. Fans issued death threats to the 76-year-old businessman known as "the Leprechaun" for his ginger beard and small stature. Even the new Archbishop of York, the Rt Rev John Sentamu, was said to be "horrified" by the takeover.

Yet despite all the sound and fury, season-ticket sales have not suffered significantly. Average attendance has enjoyed a slight rise, while the rest of the Premiership has been suffering a stark decline. Fans even queued for autographs when Glazer's sons attended their first match at Old Trafford, although one complains: "It took me longer to get out of the car park while they were smuggled on to a private helicopter."

"We all felt that the focus would return to the team once the season had got under way," says an Old Trafford spokesman. For the most part, so it has proved, with loyal supporters resorting to a veryBritish sense of irony. "Rooney's scored a touchdown," they sang after the potato-faced striker put United 2-0 up at Goodison Park. The Mirror has had fun, too, with a regular column called Malcolm Glazer Talks Soccer. "Yo, Sir Alec," it asked on August 29. "How many dollars will it cost me to buy this pitcher Flintoff?"

Not everyone has been so forgiving. Now playing nine levels below the Premiership in the North West Counties Second Division is FC United of Manchester (FCUM), formed in June this year by disenchantedManchester United fans. "This is not just a reaction to Malcolm Glazer," said one member of the steering committee. "It is about taking a stand for the vast number of ordinary fans who have been priced out of the game in recent years."

Season ticket holders at FCUM are certainly enjoying excellent value for money on their £112 investment (compared with £684 for a season ticket at Old Trafford). Their team is currently top of the leagueand attracting crowds in excess of 2,000 in a division which averaged only 71 a game last season.

"There is a brilliant atmosphere on the terraces," says club secretary Luke Zentar. Favourite chants include "Stand up cos you've got no seats"; "FC United, the only club in Manchester not in debt"; and "Marginson's fruit & veg army" (Karl Marginson, the team's manager, gets up at 3am every day to deliver groceries).

Stars include Barrie George, who keeps goal for England's partially sighted team, and Paul Mitten, grandson of the legendary Busby Babe winger, Charlie Mitten. Rory Patterson - who was voted player of the month in August - has gained the soubriquet "the man with no name" after playing his opening matches with no number on his back.

"We're not an anti-United vehicle," insists Zentar, somewhat incongruously. "Many of our fans still support both teams, and we announce the results from Old Trafford over the Tannoy."

As the furore over Glazer subsides a couple of stops down the Metrolink, the better-known Manchester United is, understandably, more worried about its recent on-pitch troubles. "We bear them no ill-will at all," says a spokesman.

'English soccer's most famous club, Manchester United, has taken centre stage in this year's hottest theatre production in Iran.

Extra seating had to be set up on the stage itself to accommodate the crowds who flocked to see Iranian writer-director Mohammad Rahmanian's F.A.N.S, which depicts a dysfunctional, soccer-mad family living in 1960s Manchester.

Now embarking on an international tour including Sweden and Canada, the play centres on the life of the Shelton family -- Frankie, Agnes, Nancy and Sonny -- whose first initials make up the play's title and its central theme.

"I had wanted to write about prejudice-induced violence for a long time until I hit on football (as the vehicle) and where on earth could be a better location for a football play than England?" Rahmanian told Reuters during a break in rehearsals.

"The research for this work took two years. I went to different Web sites, interviewed fans of several teams and all that made this play one of the toughest ones I'd ever written," said Rahmanian, who has never been to Manchester and has only briefly visited Britain.

Despite the play's foreign setting, it struck a chord in the soccer-mad Islamic Republic.

"I don't think it makes any difference where the story is happening when it's about football," said Taraneh Alidousti, who plays the part of Agnes.

The play's central character Frankie is played by Parviz Parastoui, one of Iran's foremost theatre actors and the lead in the 2004 smash-hit comedy film The Lizard, about a convict who dons a cleric's robes to escape the law.

Frankie, head of the household after his parents died in a train crash on the way to a Manchester United match, rules the home with a cruel dominance, testing his wife Nancy, and younger brother and sister Sonny and Agnes on obscure soccer trivia.

But Frankie's grip begins to weaken with the arrival of a taxi driver who supports fierce soccer rivals Manchester City and whose charms prove irresistible to Nancy.

Rahmanian, who assembled the script through improvised dialogues during rehearsals, incorporated the real-life drama of the disappearance of the World Cup trophy before the 1966 finals in England to engineer the story's climax.

Frankie finds the trophy and refuses to hand it over. His wife objects and he breaks her arm in a fight prompting her to leave home with her beloved taxi driver.

Sonny hands the cup back to the authorities, but the pressure of defying his elder brother causes him to fall ill and die. Frankie is finally left on his own.

The main set is a cross section of the Sheltons' home. The walls are covered with old posters of United players and a clock frozen at the exact time on February 6, 1958 when a plane carrying the team back from a European game crashed at Munich airport, killing eight players.

While the dialogue is fast-paced and often laced with humour, the overall mood is dark and oppressive.

"A hollow and distressed life is the only thing circulating in the minds of the audience at the end of the play," the Tehran Times wrote in a review.

Rahmanian hopes audiences learn from Frankie's story. "Prejudice leads to bullying and dictatorial attitudes inside and outside of the family framework ... I believe all of us, regardless of our differences, have a little Frankie inside us and we should confront him one day," he said.'

'When Manchester United's Academy boys glide from their dressing rooms at the club's magnificent skill factory hidden deep in the Trafford countryside, they run past 10-foot high photographs of David Beckham, Sir Bobby Charlton, Duncan Edwards, Ryan Giggs and George Best. "We want them to be inspired," said Rene Meulensteen, United's skills development coach.

They are inspired. In the ensuing sessions of drills and small-sided games, the technique, ambition and vision of United's youngsters borders on the breath-taking. "If this generation carries on maturing," confided Meulensteen on Monday night, "they will steamroller everyone at Under-18 level. They'll have skills coming out of their ears."

Sited adjacent to United's senior complex at Carrington, the Academy heaved with 10-year-olds dropping shoulders, rolling the foot over the top of the ball a la Zidane, and executing the type of step-over that Cristiano Ronaldo inflicted on Benfica the following evening.

At the end, as sweat and smiles lit up the young faces, Meulensteen gathered the boys together in a circle. "You all have the ability," he told them. "But do you have the confidence to play in front of 10,000 people, 20,000, 30,000? Use all your time training. Don't waste it. Learn. Train hard, work hard. Take responsibility."

The kids ran off, replacing lost fluids with isotonic drinks, laughing among each other about tricks they had tried out. They all changed, some pulling on the shirts of their home-town clubs like Preston and Burnley, and walked into the coaches' room to shake hands with Meulensteen and his chatty staff.

"Any kid who comes here will leave a better human being, and a better player," said the Academy director, Les Kershaw. "We try to teach them right and wrong things. When they come in, they come and shake hands. 'Hello, how are you.' It's proper. When Sir Alex Ferguson came once, one of the little lads said: 'Hiya, boss. How are you?' Two lads misheard him and said: 'Hiya, Bob. How are you?' Bob!"

Laughter is a constant sound at the Academy. Yet there is a serious issue that United want brought into the open, much as it may antagonise other clubs. United want to revolutionise coaching of the Under-9 to Under-11 age-group, focusing more on developing skills in four-v-four games than contesting blood-and-thunder eight-v-eight club skirmishes.

Sitting next to the famous 1970 photograph of Bobby Moore embracing Pele, Meulensteen called for a fusion of English zeal and Brazilian flair. "In Brazil, if a boy goes on the beach with a nice swimming bottom on but he hasn't got any skill, everyone says 'you just sit down'," Meulensteen said. "Here the football culture is more 'get stuck in'. We are trying to marry the two cultures together. Wayne Rooney has that character of wanting to win, and the skill to beat players.

"Why did Eric Cantona, Pele and Romario make the difference? Why does Ronaldinho? Under pressure, they have the ability to create a better situation. You can be as physically strong as you want, as tactically well-organised as you want, but you can never beat players like Maradona, Cruyff, Best or Zidane. They can unlock defences.

"In the last 15 years, the emphasis has been on physical and tactical development, not conceding goals and getting something from a set-play. That's not entertainment. We have been relying on God-gifted players - Cruyff, Best, Maradona - and once every five years somebody else pops up. Somebody [Rooney] popped up at Everton a couple of years ago. We want a development programme that gives us four or five Rooneys." With United's Academy complex costing a third of the £27 million Ferguson spent on Rooney, it makes sense to groom your own.

"We want players who can do the unpredictable like Rooney," Meulensteen continued. "I see too many one-dimensional players at the top level. We inspire kids to take players on. In the attacking third, it's all guns blazing. Sir Alex has been totally supportive. He came and watched what the little kids can do and said: 'Carry on.' The manager has experience of what it means when local lads come good."

Pictures of the class of 92, of Beckham, Giggs, Butt, Scholes and the Nevilles, line the walls of Carrington. Kershaw worked with them and is passionate about giving tyros time to blossom. "How many clubs would have taken Scholesy on at 16?" mused Kershaw a few nights earlier, while watching the Under-9s strut their stuff over on the club's small-sided pitches at Littleton Road in Salford.

"At 16, we could play Scholesy for only 20 minutes a game. He couldn't run. He was a little one. Had asthma. No strength. No power. No athleticism. No endurance. 'You've got a bleeding dwarf,' I remember somebody said to Brian Kidd [the then youth-teamcoach]. 'You will eat your words,' said Kiddo. If Scholesy had been at a lesser club, they would have got rid of him and he would probably not be in the game now. We stuck with Scholesy, a wonderful technician. How many caps did he get? Sixty-six?!"

In the 21st century, when street football has largely disappeared, Kershaw asked Meulensteen to come to Carrington and hone the techniques of the heirs to the Scholes generation. The Dutchman put on a coaching demonstration for Ferguson and was appointed immediately. "Rene has spells working with Van Nistelrooy, Chris Eagles and Giuseppi Rossi, who all pick at his brains, but his role is development of young boys," Kershaw said. "He is the best coach in the world for kids."

Raised in the land of Total Football, Meulensteen's obsession with encouraging skills dovetailed perfectly with the creed of Ferguson, Kershaw and enlightened Academy stalwarts like Brian McClair and Tony Whelan. "Seven to 10 is the golden age of learning, so we work on their technique at a young age," Whelan said.

"Rene came in," Kershaw continued, "and said it was not helpful to put Under-9 kids into Premier League eight-a-side football games against other clubs with mums and dads on touchlines shouting 'get stuck in'. When we played some teams it was like World War Three. When we played Man City last year, we had to frogmarch a City parent from the training ground. He was effing and blinding, telling the referee he's an effing cheat. When we play City now, I tell the groundsman to shift the rope away from the pitch so the parents are 20-30 yards back."

United know kids will always be competitive, so they work on their technique first and are prepared to "isolate" themselves from those clubs sticking to Premier League rules. "In eight v eight, the three biggest kids dominate," Kershaw said. "So we decided we would go on a four-a-side programme of development that initially revolved virtually solely around technique."

United commissioned a report from Manchester Metropolitan University which praised the "number of dribbling skills - step-over, drag-back, Cruyff Turn, feint and others - demonstrated" by the Academy's Under-9 players while involved in four-v-four games on pitches measuring 25 metres by 25 metres.

Armed with this backing from respected sports scientists, United went to the Premier League Academy directors' meeting and argued for a change in the rules, replacing eight-v-eights for the youngest kids with four-v-fours. As one coach present described it, other clubs reacted to Kershaw's request as if he had "thrown a hand-grenade at them".

Kershaw himself said: "The supposed experts at other clubs went: 'Bloody ManU, if they don't fancy it, they can pull out of the games programme.' They didn't listen to the argument that what we were doing was good for kids' development."

Whelan sighed: "On Sunday morning, some clubs will travel three hours to Newcastle for one hour's football of eight v eights for their Under-9s. Some of the players stand around a lot of the time. We refuse to go. It is far better to stay and train at home." As Kershaw stressed: "Once a nine-year-old has learned a trick, it's like learning his tables, it stays with him for life."

Evidence that something special was occurring at United could be found at Littleton Road with the merry bands of Under-9s and Under-10s, on Carrington's indoor pitch with Meulensteen and the Under-11s and outside under floodlights with the Under-12s. United have become the Eton College of football.

Practice makes perfect. "Experts reckon it takes 10,000 hours of training to make a top athlete," remarked coach Eamon Mulvey. So United ensure training is fun. "At the start we often put on a five-minute DVD with tricks from Best, Maradona and Ronaldo. We'll say, 'Who wants to be Ronaldo? Hands up.' Then they go off and try the tricks in a game."

All those skills are cultivated and paraded in the four-v-four contests. "We feel like a voice in the wilderness," observed Whelan. "We'd love it if someone else did a four-v-four pilot. We need more allies. We do have some. Derby, Leicester and Liverpool are good collaborators."

Others aren't. "When we play Huddersfield or Stoke, they are so up for it because they are playing against United," Meulensteen said. "They work twice as hard. It's a battle. That cannot develop players. One manager of another Academy said to me: 'I want to see eight v eight and a nice cup of tea afterwards.'

"Being technical director of the FA is almost an impossible job because there are so many narrow-minded people out there. There's a negative coaching culture in England. It's crash, bang, wallop coaching. We are different. If someone makes a mistake, nobody has a go at them."

Kershaw agreed, adding: "Our poorest Under-16s are light-years in front of anything they have at Bury, Rochdale and all those clubs. We are producing very, very skilful young boys, who do the tricks and compete. By the time they are 12, they are ready to enter 11-a-side.

"The Premier League have a set of rules which now need a major revision. But I am stopping going to Academy managers' meetings. They just spout hot-air. We have little Tin-Gods trying to do big jobs. Some clubs are in disarray with their Academies. The Premier League should be saying: 'You out.' But they won't.

"Barnsley's Academy was magnificent when it was built, but unfortunately they have hit the buffers, they don't meet the rules so they should be chucked out. We are continuing to invest. Other clubs aren't. Chelsea were the worst, but in fairness they will be the tops now.

"The FA set up a system with Academies to develop kids to win England the World Cup. I don't care if England don't get in the top 32 in the world. My job is to get a player in United's first team. But he doesn't need to be English. Rossi [the Italian teenager] has a wonderful chance. He's like Jimmy Greaves: left-kicker, tucks the ball away. But not English."

With Kieran Richardson and Phil Bardsley maturing, the English production line still rolls at United and will accelerate in the future. "Some other clubs don't see English nine-year-olds as cost effective," Kershaw concluded. "Some clubs would rather take a rag-arsed Irish lad at 16, who is a hardened competitor because the Dublin and District Schools League is tough but he doesn't have great technique." And great technique is a quality cherished at the club that produced Charlton, Beckham and company.'

'Nigerian soccer talent John Obi Mikel finally spoke about his relationship with Oslo football club Lyn, and his disputed signing with top English Premier League club Manchester United.

Aftenposten met Mikel and his fellow Nigerians at Lyn, Chinedu Ogbuke and Ezekiel Bala, at their hotel suite on Thursday, and Mikel took his first chance to speak his mind openly. Much of the interview proved unprintable, as he vented his opinions about the Oslo club.

"In the hours before training life is good. It's good after training, too. But everything in between is boring. The worst is going to the training pitch every day and seeing faces I don't want to see," Mikel told Aftenposten.

The Nigerian players have been sharing the $1000-a-day hotel suite for over three weeks since international football body FIFA demanded Mikel return to Oslo. Agent John Shittu, who wields the most influence over Mikel and has claimed that Mikel was coerced into signing for Manchester United, lives in another room on the same floor.

"Many Norwegians see people like us and think we're starving. We're not going hungry. Look where we live. Lyn isn't paying, we are. I can live without Lyn's money, I don't need it," Mikel said, but admits that he and his compatriots are still getting Lyn paychecks.

Mikel would not say who was paying for the room and refused to comment if it was Premier League champions Chelsea, who have also been linked to the Nigerian talent.

Ogbuke and Bala returned to Oslo when FIFA forced Mikel back, in a show of solidarity.

"I wanted to cry when we had to (come back). But we had no choice. FIFA said Mikel had to go. We traveled with him to support our friend. We want to take care that he isn't harassed," Ogbuke said.

Mikel said he was fed up with playing for a club he doesn't like and tired of answering questions about Manchester United when he clearly wants to go to Chelsea.

In the meantime Mikel is counting down the days until the end of the season, and his attitude appears to be affecting his play. Ogbuke has played for Lyn instead, and performed so impressively he is likely to start again in the Oslo derby against Vålerenga on Sunday.

Ogbuke said that he has played well because he wants to keep his reputation untarnished.

"We like Norway. But there is something in Norway we don't like," Ogbuke said, and points out the window to Ullevål Stadium, where Lyn director Morgan Andersen has his office.'

Man, what a cheeky bugger By NEIL CUSTIS and NICK PARKERMAN Uniteds dressing room was BUGGED during the crunch clash with Chelsea. A transmitter smuggled into their Old Trafford changing area recorded top-secret conversations between boss Sir Alex Ferguson and his stars. The taped exchanges were offered to The Sun by a middle man, but last night we handed them to United. United chiefs launched a probe last night to track down the sneaky culprit who bugged their dressing room. We obtained tapes secretly recorded during their 1-0 win over Premiership champions Chelsea  and our man Nick Parker handed them over to Old Trafford director of communications Phil Townsend. He said: We are grateful to The Sun for bringing this breach of security and privacy to our attention. We have launched our own investigation and if necessary will involve the police.

The cheeky bugger was part of a gang that eluded scores of police, stewards and security staff to smuggle a radio transmitter into the Red Devils dressing room before last Sundays crunch clash. He tuned into the bugs frequency from a position nearby and eavesdropped on two hours of conversation, which he recorded on two cassettes. The Traffordgate tapes kick off with inspirational boss Sir Alex Ferguson sending his troops out on the pitch  urging them to enjoy themselves.

At half-time, with United already leading through a Darren Fletcher header, the 63-year-old manager can clearly be heard encouraging his players in his unmistakable Scots brogue. He urges them to move the ball more fluently and gives millionaire stars including Wayne Rooney and Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy tips on improving their play. He also stresses the need for tighter marking on Chelsea playmaker Claude Makelele  warning his passing is a danger.

And he instructs his stars to keep switching the play, stop giving away free kicks and keep the ball AWAY from the Londoners England international captain John Terry in the air. The players then head out for the second half, with Fergies words of encouragement ringing in their ears. Forty-five minutes later, they return whooping with delight after clinching the victory which ended the Blues 40-game unbeaten run. United stars are heard on the tape congratulating each other and urging one another to maintain their winning form.

Defender Rio Ferdinand comments that the win will have silenced the teams critics. He also praises midfield ace Paul Scholes and is heard questioning a team-mate about his plans for the evening. Other stars are heard congratulating Fletcher on his winning goal. Striker Wayne Rooney  a former Everton hero  asks if anybody knows the score from the Merseyside clubs game.

Hilarious exchanges then ensue as the players watch Sir Alex SWEARING in a Sky Sports interview when asked if he had ever faced such pressure to win. The recording captures a huge cheer and laughter as the manager spits out the word b*******. Players then mimic their boss, repeating the swearword amid further laughter. But the mood changes when Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho is heard giving his post-match interview on the dressing room TV.

As the Portuguese appears, shouts of abuse ring out. Jeers greet his suggestion that his teams defeat was down to bad luck and his claim that United employed defensive tactics. Mourinho is heard declaring: We have shown why Chelsea are champions. But a United player reminds him that his team lost. Fergie, who has been in Dubai this week launching a Man United soccer school, was beside himself with fury last night as The Sun revealed the sensational bug plot.

Our investigators were offered the tapes by a middle man  along with further recordings. He said the gang had already set in motion plans to bug Mourinho and the Chelsea team during their next Premiership match. They demanded tens of thousands of pounds for the two tapes and MORE if recorded conversations contained juicy information. The scandal will send shock waves through every Premiership and Football League club. Officials will be forced to draft in surveillance specialists to carry out high-tech sweeps of all sensitive areas of soccer stadia.

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I know i couldnt believe it when i seen in on front of the paper this morning, i am accusing anyone but i think he has to be sumone in chelsea or supports chelsea or even sumone who works for utd and feeding chelsea info, or it cud even be a utd fan.......its just strange that it happened on the biggest game of the season

Preston Adams <preston_adams101@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:Man, what a cheeky bugger By NEIL CUSTIS and NICK PARKERMAN Uniteds dressing room was BUGGED during the crunch clash with Chelsea. A transmitter smuggled into their Old Trafford changing area recorded top-secret conversations between boss Sir Alex Ferguson and his stars. The taped exchanges were offered to The Sun by a middle man, but last night we handed them to United. United chiefs launched a probe last night to track down the sneaky culprit who bugged their dressing room. We obtained tapes secretly recorded during their 1-0 win over Premiership champions Chelsea  and our man Nick Parker handed them over to Old Trafford director of communications Phil Townsend. He said: We are grateful to The Sun for bringing this breach of security and privacy to our attention. We have launched our own investigation and if necessary will involve the police.

The cheeky bugger was part of a gang that eluded scores of police, stewards and security staff to smuggle a radio transmitter into the Red Devils dressing room before last Sundays crunch clash. He tuned into the bugs frequency from a position nearby and eavesdropped on two hours of conversation, which he recorded on two cassettes. The Traffordgate tapes kick off with inspirational boss Sir Alex Ferguson sending his troops out on the pitch  urging them to enjoy themselves.

At half-time, with United already leading through a Darren Fletcher header, the 63-year-old manager can clearly be heard encouraging his players in his unmistakable Scots brogue. He urges them to move the ball more fluently and gives millionaire stars including Wayne Rooney and Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy tips on improving their play. He also stresses the need for tighter marking on Chelsea playmaker Claude Makelele  warning his passing is a danger.

And he instructs his stars to keep switching the play, stop giving away free kicks and keep the ball AWAY from the Londoners England international captain John Terry in the air. The players then head out for the second half, with Fergies words of encouragement ringing in their ears. Forty-five minutes later, they return whooping with delight after clinching the victory which ended the Blues 40-game unbeaten run. United stars are heard on the tape congratulating each other and urging one another to maintain their winning form.

Defender Rio Ferdinand comments that the win will have silenced the teams critics. He also praises midfield ace Paul Scholes and is heard questioning a team-mate about his plans for the evening. Other stars are heard congratulating Fletcher on his winning goal. Striker Wayne Rooney  a former Everton hero  asks if anybody knows the score from the Merseyside clubs game.

Hilarious exchanges then ensue as the players watch Sir Alex SWEARING in a Sky Sports interview when asked if he had ever faced such pressure to win. The recording captures a huge cheer and laughter as the manager spits out the word b*******. Players then mimic their boss, repeating the swearword amid further laughter. But the mood changes when Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho is heard giving his post-match interview on the dressing room TV.

As the Portuguese appears, shouts of abuse ring out. Jeers greet his suggestion that his teams defeat was down to bad luck and his claim that United employed defensive tactics. Mourinho is heard declaring: We have shown why Chelsea are champions. But a United player reminds him that his team lost. Fergie, who has been in Dubai this week launching a Man United soccer school, was beside himself with fury last night as The Sun revealed the sensational bug plot.

Our investigators were offered the tapes by a middle man  along with further recordings. He said the gang had already set in motion plans to bug Mourinho and the Chelsea team during their next Premiership match. They demanded tens of thousands of pounds for the two tapes and MORE if recorded conversations contained juicy information. The scandal will send shock waves through every Premiership and Football League club. Officials will be forced to draft in surveillance specialists to carry out high-tech sweeps of all sensitive areas of soccer stadia.

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